The WebDev Buzz

There are many major factors that contribute to the success of a website. One of them is the type of web hosting chosen for the website. There are two known types of web hosting. One is called virtual hosting and the other is called dedicated hosting. To determine which type of web hosting is appropriate for a certain website, a businessman will need to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

The basic difference between the two types of web hosting is the sharing or non-sharing of a machine and its IP address. That is, in virtual web hosting, several websites share one single IP address. While in dedicated web hosting, only one customer is using one machine and IP address.

The major advantage of virtual web hosting is the low price. Fees will range between $2 to $20 a month. Such low fees are great for start-up Internet companies which do not have a big budget for such expenditure.

The disadvantages of virtual web hosting stem from the fact that the IP address is shared. This means that there will be several websites sending requests for file transfers. And any of these may happen:

• Slow response time – One can imagine himself standing in line while waiting for the people before him to be served first by the computer. But the number of websites sharing the server will not necessarily determine how fast or how slow is the server’s response. For example, a server shared by 40 busy websites will definitely have a slower response time than a server shared by 90 sleepy websites.
• Having unsavory neighbors – A small business which sells educational materials may be sharing the IP address with an adult site. This is almost disastrous for the web promotion of the small business because some Search Engines prohibit the inclusion of any website coming from IP addresses known to have adult sites or spam sites.

The major advantage of dedicated web hosting is that the dedicated server can handle higher traffic. The website owner need not worry about crashes caused by other websites. Obviously, the response time will be faster.

The one disadvantage of dedicated web hosting is the high cost. Most web hosting companies have a minimum of $70 per month. If additional features are required, the price shoots up. Small to medium companies cannot afford the fees.

To decide which type of web hosting to use, the website owner must analyze the situation of his business. Here are some examples:

• If the website is relatively new with little traffic, the virtual hosting is the more practical option.
• If there is absolutely no need for a dedicated server, the website will can manage in a virtual hosting environment. Moving to dedicated hosting will only lead to unnecessary expenses.
• If the traffic to the website is high, then a dedicated server is important. The higher cost can be shouldered by the increased sales from the high traffic.